Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, February 24th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-02-24 22:51:07 Premium Content Part of the product NBA DFS

A daily fantasy sports OG, Notorious has been roaming the DFS streets ever since they were invented. He has racked up multiple live final seats and several six-figure tournament wins in his DFS career. So, who better to walk you through the madness of NBA DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel? Core Plays LIVE will zoom out on the slate as a whole, zoom in on the best plays, and constantly update as news breaks. Whether you are diving into the slate 5 hours before it starts or 5 minutes before it starts, you’ve come to the right place.

Happy Tuesday!

I’m coming off a strong slate. On Crunch Time last night with Dean and Kyle, we talked through different roster construction strategies. One that was brought up was to pair Victor Wembanyama with Cade Cunningham. I tried it while we were on the show (and locked in my two core plays — Reed Sheppard and Maxime Raynaud). I hit optimize in LineupHQ and ended up loving the lineup. It ended up being my main lineup, and it finished in the top 10% of most contests. I’ll be back on Crunch Time tomorrow night.

As for tonight, we have 11 games on the schedule. Luckily, FanDuel and DraftKings decided to leave the final 3 games off of their main slates. This means that we have an 8-game slate to break down. This is right in the sweet spot, although it looks like it’s going to be a very busy day of injury news. On these slates, it’s important to be able to adjust on the fly. We don’t want to get too attached to any plays early in the day, as so much can change based on injury news.

As always, thanks for joining me. Let’s dive into the games.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Tuesday, February 24th

Slate Overview

• 8-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Toronto Raptors
  - 7:30 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks
  - 7:30 pm ET – New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 8:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Chicago Bulls
  - 9:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Phoenix Suns (not on main slate)
  - 10:00 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Portland Trail Blazers (not on main slate)
  - 10:30 pm ET – Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Lakers (not on main slate)
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

1:50 PM ET

Al Horford is out for the Warriors. Draymond Green and De’Anthony Melton are expected to play.

Team Previews

Philadelphia 76ers (at IND)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Sixers, who draw a nice matchup against the Pacers, who are 8th in pace and 25th in points allowed per game. Philly’s team total is 6 points higher than their season average. Paul George is out, while Joel Embiid is questionable.

One of the biggest injuries on the slate that we need to monitor is Embiid. If active, he becomes an interesting tournament play. The Pacers are susceptible to bigs, and Embiid has been playing some of his best basketball of the season. If Embiid is out, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe will dominate usage in a favorable matchup, while Andre Drummond would draw another spot start at center. I don’t expect to have much exposure to the Sixers if Embiid is active, but he and Maxey will certainly be viable in tournaments.

Indiana Pacers (vs. PHI)

The Pacers have a mediocre matchup against the Sixers, who are close to the league average in pace, rebounding rate, points allowed per game, and defensive rating. Indiana’s team total is 2 points higher than their season average. Johnny Furphy, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, and Ivica Zubac are out, while Quenton Jackson, T.J. McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Ethan Thompson, and Taelon Peter are questionable.

With Nembhard, McConnell, Jackson, and Peter in the projections, there’s not much that sticks out when it comes to the Pacers. However, a lot of value could open up if some of these questionable players end up being out (especially Nembhard). We’ve seen big games from Jarace Walker, Micah Potter, Kobe Brown, and Jay Huff recently. Ideally, Embiid is out for the Sixers, and Nembhard is out for the Pacers. In that scenario, we can start thinking about game stacks.

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